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PRICE, 30 CENTS. 



Capons 



FOR 



Profit 



BY T. GREINER. 



I 




CArONS roi^ 

PROFIT. 



HOW TO MAKE 

AND 

HOW TO MANAGE THEM. 



Plain Instructions given by a Beginner for the 
I Beginner, 



J 



BY 

T. GREINER, LaSalle, N. Y. 

w 



*^APR9 1894 ; 



SPRING, 1894. kCjl ^^-'^' 



SF4 



Q a 



vX 



COPYRIGHTED, 1893. 
JyT. QREINER, la SALLE, N. Y. 



HAAS & KLEIN, PRINTERS, 

SENECA STREET, CORNER TERRACE, 

BUFFALO, N. Y. 



THE TRUTH ABOUT POULTRY 



A FRIENDLY TALK THAT MAY SERVE AS 
AN INTRODUCTION. 



T AM not a novice in the poultry business. As an 
apprentice I have served long and faithfully, 
but I am an apprentice, a learner, still, and expect 
to be one as long as I live. My interest in poultry 
is about as old as my memory. I was not yet in my 
teens when I made my first practical experiment in 
chicken raising, by inducing a pair of fancy pigeons 
to adopt an ordinary hen' s egg for hatching in place 
of their own two little eggs. Well do I remember 

the pleasurable excitement that thrilled 
First wfi'ck ^^^ throbbed all through my whole 

being when I found the little chick try- 
ing to get out of the shell, and how I had to run to 
tell my mother, all aglow with pride and joy. Then 
how I watched, fed and petted the little motherless 
thing for a few days, until an unlucky accident 



4 CAPONS FOR PROFIT. 

put an end to its life and to my enjoyment. I could 
not have grieved more had I lost a fortune. 

A dozen years later, at the age when a person 
knows more than all the rest of mankind, I could 
see golden opportunities in poultry raising as a 
business Poultry papers and poultry writers had 
told me of the lot of money that might be made by 
raising chicks and eggs for market. Estimating 
profits on paper, from imaginary figures, is always 
an easy enough matter. One hen gives $1.00 a year 
clear profit; 1,000 hens must give $1,000. That was 
as clear as day light, and needed no proof. Any- 
how, if I had no acquaintance with the real facts, I 
had unlimited faith in these figures, for figures can- 
not lie; and if I was without practical 

Do ligures Lie? . t ^' n • t j. 

experience, I was lully convinced oi 
my own superior smartness. If others had suc- 
ceeded, I could, and possibly in a greater degree. 
So I made my plans, and racked my brains about 
the construction of an incubator and brooders, etc., 
things little thought of in those times. Next I be- 
gan active oiDerations with about 150 laying hens 
which were kept for the purpose of getting eggs to 
sell in the open market. It did not take me long to 
find out that 150 hens housed in one building, no 
matter how large, will not lay 10 times as many 
eggs as 15 hens kept by themselves, and given a 
large range. Grain was then much dearer than it is 
now, although I grew what corn and oats I needed, 
and eggs were selling at the lowest prices I have 
ever either paid or received for them. In short the 
outcome was so discouraging that, instead of in- 
creasing my stock of layers, as originally intended. 



]NrEW JERSEY EXPERIENCE. O 

to 1 ,000 hens, T decreased my number to 35 or 40, a 
number more nearly in harmony with the conditions 
of the farm and tlje market. Experiments with 
incubators and brooders were entirely given up. 

In 1885 I moved to New Jersey. The higher 
prices which prevail near the large cities and the 
summer resorts along the beach for spring chickens 
and eggs revived my interest in the poultry busi- 
ness. I made a new start with Black 
^°n New Jersiy*!'^ Langshans, and soon had as line a 
flock of from 1 00 to 200 fowls as any 
one could wish to see. Grain was now reasonably 
cheap. I used to buy a second grade of wheat at 
my feed-dealer's at 80 or 85 cents a bushel, and corn 
in the ear from some neighbor at 25 cents a bushel 
ears; bran and other ground feed in proportion. 
Fish, flsh refuse and crabs were easily obtained, 
and largely used to furnish the desired animal food. 
My nearest grocer always bought my cockerels when 
2 or 2i pounds in weight, paying !|1.00 per pair 
alive. Eggs were mostly sold for hatching purposes, 
at $1.50 per setting when shipped, or 50 cents per 
setting to people who came after them. Hens laid 
well. Sometimes I had to sell the eggs to the gro- 
ceryman,'and always received for them from 18 to 
36 cents per dozen. I had two yards of moderate 
size and a one-half acre orchard fenced in. In gar- 
dening time my fowls were kept inside these fences, 
at other times they were allowed to roam at will 
over meadows and fields. There was some work and 
care connected with this enterprise, but on the 
whole it proved interesting and satisfactory. My 
books showed a clear annual x')i'ofit of from 75 cents 



6 CAPONS rOR PROFIT. 

to $1.00 per hen. This result was obtained under 
an unusual combination of favorable conditions; 
but I had already reached the limit to which I could 
hope to extend the business safely and profitably. 
Where the conditions are less favorable (and that is 
the usual case), either the number of fowls kept 
must be decreased accordingly, or the profits will 
dwindle down rapidly. 

Poultry as ordinarily kept on the farm and other 
rural homes (in limited numbers mainly) does pay, 
and usually pays better than any other kind of farm 
stock. There cannot be a particle of doubt about 
it. The anxious question, "Does poultry-keeping 
pay?" can only have reference to extensive opera- 
tions. When I hear of, any one, who is out of 
profitable employment, starting out to keep 1,000 
hens for egg laying, or to raise spring chickens by 
means of incubators and brooders, I always feel 
sorry for him, and make up my mind that after a 
while he will have a bigger stock of experience and 
a smaller amount of money. 1 say this advisedly. 
I well remember the delightful day I once spent 

with poultry editors Jacobs and 
moiesaie Poultry ;gQyer^ visiting the chicken- rearing 

establishments in Hammonton, JS" J. 
What I saw there interested me greatly, but it did 
not fire up my enthusiasm to the point of making 
me take hold of the business. Right there, with 
climate and soil conditions about as favorable as 
one might imagine, with good counsel to be had at 
first hand from the older neighbors who diligently, 
perse veringiy, but carefully, had worked their way 
gradually into moderate success, with plenty of 



POULTRY ON THE FARM. 7 

local experience in selecting and running incubators 
and brooders, with near markets ready to receive 
the product, the chances seemed in every way to 
favor success. Yet even then I noticed the impul- 
siveness and impatience of the younger element that 
was taking hold of the business, and the rashness 
with which they rushed in where the older and more 
experienced ones had feared to tread. I could not 
overlook the fact that, while there were some mod- 
erate successes on a moderate scale, large-scale 
operations were yet in an experimental stage, and I 
foresaw that there would be a liberal sprinkling of 
failures among the successes. 

I have also watched with interest the start and 
development of other large poultry enterprises else- 
where, but found that final failure was the rule, and 
moderate success the exception. In short, I have 
seen so much of this, that I feel perfectly safe in 
prophesying failure, when I see one of the smart 
young fellows embark in poultry raising with a full 
equipment of incubators, brooders, etc; but without 
previous practical experience. Theories in this 
field are terribly misleading. 

But as I said before, poultry in the usual num- 
bers on the farm are a paying stock. And yet they 
can be made to pay still better than they really do 
now. The ordinary management is abominable. 
The scrub stock so generally met with 

on^he^Farm ^^^^^^ ^^^J ^ ^^^ years ago, is fortunately 
less common, and signs of mixture of 
blooded stock, especially of Plymouth Rock, Leg- 
horns, etc., may be seen everywhere. This is at 
least one great step in advance, but it is only one, 



8 CAPONS FOK PKOEIT. 

and more improvements in management are needed. 
One of them is in the matter of feeding. Corn is 
yet fed by far too extensively and exclusively. It 
is not a fit grain to be used in this manner. Wheat 
is cheap, and considering its value as a fiesh and 
egg producer, much cheaper than corn. It can and 
should be made use of for poultry feed much more 
extensively than it now is. 

Then there is this matter of keeping useless males. 
They are allowed to comsume a large share of the 
food that might be made to produce eggs, and meat 
worth five or ten cents a pound more than that of 
old roosters. I keep one male bird for 30 to 50 hens, 
and the chicks I raise are strong and healthy, ap- 
parently every egg being fertile. What is the use 
of feeding three or four old roosters when one will 
do as well or better ? They do more harm than good. 
Where hens are kept to lay eggs for table use, not 
for hatching, we can go much further, even, and 
dispense with males entirely. 



II. 

CAPON PHILOSOPHY 



WHAT IS A CAPON, AND WHAT IS HE 
GOOD FOR? 



T HA YE to say something more about keeping 
males. About one-lialf the number of chicks 
in any flock are males. If they are early, so to be 
fit for "roasters" in June or July, you should 
always dispose of them at that time at the high 
prices then obtainable. You will make more money 

selling your two-and-a-half or three 
°^* Wanted ^°* pound cockerels at 25 or 30 cents a 

pound than by selling five or six 
pound roosters at ten cents a pound in late fall or 
winter. Don't keep "spring chickens" until they 
are old roosters. The question often is what to do 
with the later young cockerels. When they are of 
"spring chicken" size, autumn is fast approach- 
ing; the demand for "spring chickens" is past 
and the call is for old hens. To keep the young 
cockerels over means to raise a lot of old cocks of 
little value. I cannot afford to raise that kind of 
stock. They are a nuisance on the place, always 
mischievous, harassing laying hens and reducing 



10 CAPONS FOR PROFIT. 

the profits, and at best they will bring only eight or 
ten cents a pound, that has cost you more than that 
amonnt to produce. My way now is to turn them 
into capons, and thus double the value of their flesh. 

There are a great many persons in America who 
have never heard of capons, and have not the least 
idea what they are. 

'' What a magnificent lot of fowls! " 

"Say, Mister, what breed are your fowls?" 

' ' Will you sell me a trio of your fowls, or a set- 
ting of eggs in the spring?'- 

These are questions that I and some of my friends 
who keep a goodly number of capons, have been 
asked time and time again; and we had to explain 
the matter as best as we could. If we simply said 
"They are capons," peopl(3 would answer, "Why, 
yes; they are just the breed we want." I think my- 
self that they will want them after they once find 
out how tender and sweet and juicy their flesh is. 

But what are capons, anyhow? Farmers make 
oxen of their surplus male calves, and wethers of 
their surplus male lambs, and ordinary horses of 
their male colts. In short, they castrate or emasculate 
all male animals not wanted for breeding purposes. 
Occasionally male cats and dogs are treated in the 
same way; and the process of castration gives us 
better cats and dogs than they are in their unaltered 
state. We used to castrate male rabbits when we 
were breeding them for table use, and it improved 
them greatly in size and quality of flesh, and as in 
other animals, made them more peaceable and quiet. 

But while thus improving by castration the sur- 
plus males of all farm stock, farmers have neglected 



WHY WE CAPONIZE. 11 

the male chickens, probably considering them be- 
neath their notice in this respect. 

This is a big mistake. 

It is easier to castrate a young cockerel than a pig 
or a lamb. It is profitable in more ways than one. 
Once operated on, capons become the 
^^^ize ^^^^ tractable and peaceable animals 
imaginable. They do not run, nor chase, 
nor light. All they seem to live for is to eat and 
grow and become fat. I will not say that capons 
while young grow faster, or lay on more flesh from 
a given amount of food than unaltered males of the 
same age do. As long as the cockerel is young 
enough so that no energy goes into the reproductive 
organs, I think their development is about at an 
even rate. But there is a change after a time. The 
development of the organs of reproduction in the 
male, and his growing activity and restlessness con- 
sume energy, which is saved in the capon for flesh 
production. 

Water only comes to a certain degree of heat. 
All the excess above this is utilized for the forma- 
tion of steam. It is the same thing with the rooster. 
He grows to a certain size or weight, and all the 
surplus energy above this is used for the purpose 
of reproduction. In other words, the capon will 
continue to grow and lay on flesh much longer than 
the unaltered male. It takes a year or more for 
the capon to come near his full size and weight, but 
at that age he is much larger than the rooster of the 
same age, and several times as valuable A pound 
of old rooster is worth from 6 to 10 cents; a pound 
of capon from 18 to 28 cents. 



12 CAPOl^S FOR PROFIT. 

Capons stand crowding. While there is a limit 
to the number of laying hens that one can keep 
with profit, there is practically no limit to the num- 
ber of capons. You can keep as many as you have 
room for. They will do just as well when in a 
flock of a hundred, than when there are only a dozen. 
They are hardy, and remarkably exempt from dis- 
ease. Their appearance and bearing is peculiar, but 
they are handsome and interesting nevertheless. 

I have always felt a great interest in the subject 
of capon making. But I can tell you that I have 
never taken more comfort among my poultry, or felt 
prouder of them, than I am doing this year among 
my first good-sized flock of capons 



III. 



SOMETHING ABOUT THE CAPON 
MAKER. 



PEOPLE WHO CAlSr CAPONIZE AND PEOPLE 
WHO SHOULD KEEP THEIR HANDS OFF. 



T^ HERE are people whom I would not advise to 
undertake the operation of caponizing. The 
person to do it should have, above all things, faith 
in his undertaking and in himself. He must be 
convinced that his work is right, and then go ahead. 
This is no place to make a trial for fun, or in a half- 
hearted way. It is a little of the genuine enthusiasm 
that is needed, and that is bound to overcome diffi- 
culties should any be encountered. Then there 
should be an average amount of mechanical skill 
and the same amount of nerve. Clumsy fingers have 
no business in operating on a live fowl. If you are 
a little nervous at first, it will do no hurt. Your 

nervousness will wear off after you oper- 
^Nerve"^ ate on two or three fowls, and see how 

easy the job is, and how little pain it ap- 
parently causes to the bird. You must have full 



14 CAPONS FOE PROFIT. 

confidence in your ability to do it just right, and 
then go ahead without fear and trembling. And 
when you are at it once it is far better to operate on 
all the fowls ready for the operation in one day than 
fuss along with two or three every few days. The 
beginner is apt to be a little nervous when he goes 
for the first bird; but after he gets his hand in once, 
everything moves off smoothly and nicely. His 
hand becomes steady, and the work passes off rap- 
idly. Of course, it is an advantage if you can see 
some one perform the operation, even on a single 
bird. No more is needed to teach you the whole 
operation. But the average person does not often 
have a chance to see it done. 

We ourselves had to learn it from books and 
printed instructions— not very plain ones either — 
and succeeded beyond expectations. After a few 
days' practical experience I thought nothing of 
caponizing 20 birds before dinner. The operation, 
indeed, after you have once undertaken ifc and suc- 
ceeded, is an easy enough thing, and causes but 
little pain and inconvenience to the bird, if you do 
it right and with proper tools. A good set of tools, 
of course, is utterly indispensable, and the person 
unwilling to expend $2 or $3 for them is not in- 
cluded in the list of persons who can safely under- 
take the operation. 

Then there are some timid souls who tremblingly 

ask, " Does it hurt? " The farmer when castrating 

lambs, or pigs, or calves, etc., does not 

Necessity Not ^^^ ''Is it cruel?" The butcher, when 

Cruelty. ' ' 

he kills a sheep, or hog, or calf, does 
not stop inquiringly, " Does it hurt? " Both know 



PLEA FOR HUMANITY. 15 

well enougli that they do inflict some pain to their 
victims. But they yield to the demands of neces- 
sity. We can not always avoid suffering pain, or 
giving pain. 

What is cruelty? The needless infliction of pain. 
This is cruelty and decidedly a wrong. Yet many 
persons, too tender-hearted to stick a pig, or to 
castrate a hog, or to have a boil on their own back 
lanced, will, when provoked, use the whip freely on 
their children, or kick and strike their horses and 
cows most unmercifully on slightest provocation. 

All this is a needless infliction of pain, and there- 
fore cruelty and inhumanity. We can and should 
be merciful and decent, all the more 

f r H ^an"t ^^^^ we are compelled to make other 
creatures suffer. It is not necessary 
to insert a hog-hook into a hog's mouth and pull 
the animal into the scalding vat before it is dead. 
It is not necessary to begin skinning a calf or lamb 
when yet alive. I think these things are horrible, 
and people of any heart and feeling would not 
stoop to do things so mean. 

Nor do I think that it is merely a necessary and 
legitimate infliction of pain, or even reconcilable 
with mercy and decency, and the ordinary instincts 
of humanity to kill and dress fowls in the horrible 
manner practiced by many, and as I have seen it 
advised even by a renowned poultry editor. To strip a 
fowl of feathers while suffering from a death wound 
in the throat, and to have it dressed clean be/ore it 
is dead, seems to me a crime for which the perpe- 
trator himself ought to suffer. The French killing 
knife is made for the purpose of being inserted into 



16 CAPONS FOR PROFIT. 

the bird's brain, causing instant paralysis and in- 
sensibility before the stripping process begins. 

In short, the person whom I would like to induce 
to turn mischievous, worthless cockerels into peacea- 
ble and valuable capons, is the one who is impressed 
with the necessity and advantages of the operation; 
who has faith in his abilities, an ordinary amount 
of mechanical dexterity and nerve, a little energy 
and perseverance, and is in possession of the tools 
needed for the operation. This man is neither a 
sensitive weakling nor a cruel brute. 

People too morbidly sensitive to use the knife on 
a live bird; people with clumsy fingers; people with- 
out proper tools, or people who are brutes, are the 
people whom I would wish to keep their hands off 
this business. 



-^5^5=^^^^5^^ 



IV. 
THE VICTIMS AND THE TABLES. 



BEST BIRDS AND BEST BREEDS FOR BE- 
aiNNERS— SIMPLE OPERATING TABLES. 



TTHERE is a great difference in breeds and birds. 
I was especially fortunate in the materials I 
had at hand. In the first place, I have for many 
years taken an especial fancy to the Langshan breed, 
and the cockerels with which I had to make my 
first trials were either the pnre black Langshan 
or crosses of Langshan cock and Plymouth Rock 
hen. Of all breeds I have tried I find the Langshan 
the easiest subject to operate on, because the bird 
makes bone first and flesh afterward, in other 
words, is usually lean when young, showing the 
ribs quite prominently. It offers little difficulty to 
the prompt removal of the testicles, and 

at'tSrnead ^.ppareutly is suffering the least while 

under the operation. Besides this, the 

Langshan has the advantage of large size and great 

hardiness. It is also less liable to make what is 

known as '^slips'' than most other breeds. 

My next choice would be the Langshan and Ply- 
mouth Rock cross. The cockerels, in plumage and 



18 CAPONS FOE PROMT. 

outward appearance, resemble Plymouth Rocks 
quite closely, yet offer about as little difficulty to 
the novice as tlie pure Langshan. They make large, 
noble-looking capons. Most of the ordinary mixed 
fowls of our barn-yards are easily operated on. 
Cochins I have never tried. Of course, they are 
large and will make good capons. 

Brahmas will grow to largest size, and may prove 
the most profitable of all breeds for this purpose, 
yet the beginner will be apt to have trouble with 
them. The ribs do not show prominently on the 
outside. Although this makes little difference to a 
person after he has operated on a number of fowls 
it may puzzle the beginner. The most serious stumb- 
ling block, however, is the shape of the testicle, 
which in young Brahma cockerels is about a half 
inch long, extending close and worm-like along the 
big artery. To slip a horse-hair loop around the 
Brahma testicle, so that it will catch on and cut its 
way between the testicle and the artery, is no small 
job for the beginner. I would have not succeeded 
quite so well with Brahmas except for the use of 
steel wire in place of horse-hair. My emphatic ad- 
vice, therefore, is to make the first trial with easy 
caponizers, especially the Langshan or Langshan 
(jross, or with ordinary smaller breeds, never with 
Brahmas. 

We are now trying the Indian games. These ex- 
cel in quality, and will probably make the choicest 
capons for home use. The markets, however, do 
not yet discriminate between capons of different 
breeds except so far as size is concerned. For profit 
we want the fowls that will give us the greatest 



OPERATING TABLES. 19 

weight — Langshan, Cocllin, Brahma, Plymouth 
E-ock. 

I also find that it is less trouble to operate on 
comparatively young subjects than on older and 
larger ones. When I want an easy job I take a two 
pound Langshan, Langshan cross or Plymouth Rock. 
My Langshan-Ply mouth Rock crosses seldom 
flinched even when the incisions were made or the 
testicles twisted off, while Brahmas, which are 
usually taken at more advanced age and size (four 
pounds or more) offer more or less resistance, and 
must be held more firmly. 

It is also a good plan to use a dead subject for the 
first lesson. Shut the victim up without food or 
drink for 36 hours. This is important, as you want 
the intestines empty. Then chop his head of, put 
him on the operating table in good light, and other- 
wise in the same way as will be described for the 
operation on a live subject, and go ahead making 
your observations in cockerel anatomy. 

An empty barrel, bottom side up, may be made to 

answer for a table, the fowl being held by means of 

one stout twine tied around the wings next the body 

and another tied around the legs, the 

^TaWes^^ free ends of both hanging down on the 
side of the barrel and weighted with a 
brick or piece of iron. I would put padding of some 
kind, a piece of old carpet or a rag, upon the barrel 
head under the chick, thus giving him as comforta- 
ble a rest as possible under the circumstances. This 
kind of operating-table, however, is a poor make- 
shift at best. 

When you have a large number of cockerels to 



20 



CAPONS FOR PROFIT. 



operate on, or set out to caponize your surplus 
roosters for profit, year after year, as you should, 
you will want a more convenient table. Dow, and 
others, advise you to have a table made for this 
special purpose in as simple a style as you please, 
with cleats around the top at the right to prevent 
the tools from falling off, a two inch hole in the 
center at the left, with a weighted lever underneath 
and a mortise six to eight inches long from right to 
left, also in about the center of the table, with a 
sliding lever, weighted underneath. A twine loop 
is fastened on each one of the levers, passed up 
through auger-hole or mortise, and slipped one over 
the wings, the other over the feet, thus securely 
holding the subject for the operation. 
You can also make a table such as is shown in 
Fig. 1. It consists of a round 
board larger than a barrel-head, 
resting on an empty, headless 
barrel. Weighted straps or 
bands are drawn through two 
holes bored at proper dis- 
tances, and hold the chicks' 
wings and legs, as may be seen 
in the picture. This table has 
the advantage that you can 
turn it toward the light to suit, 
FIG. 1. BARR^tTZTopEBAT- wlthout movlug the barrel. But 
iNG Table. |^ affords uo good chauce to 

place the tools and is not excessively handy. 

The table I use is illustrated in Fig. 2. It is a 
light, cheap kitchen table, such as we happened to 
have to spare, three and a half feet long and twenty- 




OPERATING TABLES. 



21 



two inches wide, more than large enough to accom- 
modate the cockerel and leave plenty of room for 
the tools, and yet light enough to be easily shifted 
about for the sake of getting the light just right 
upon the work. I fastened some narrow cleats with 
screws all along the margin of the right-handed half 




Fig. 2. Greiner's Operating Tabi/E. 

of the table, thus rendering this part a safe place 
for the tools and accessories. At the middle of the 
opposite (shorfi side, screwed into the edge, is a 
screw-eye or hook, which holds the loop of twine 
after the latter is slipped around the wings of the 
victim next to its body. Its legs are held by a strip 
of board, which is padded with flannel on the under 
side, and weighted on top with a piece of iron or a 
brick securely fastened with wire or twine. One 
end of this lever is cut in convenient shape for a 
handle, while the other has a cleat which simply 
hooks over a longer cleat screwed fast upon the 
table. This arrangement allows the lever to be 
moved sideways, according to the size of the fowl, or 
entirely taken off when the table is not in use. The 
cleats may also be removed by taking out the screws, 
and the table be pat back where it belongs, in 
kitchen, buttery or cellar. 



22 CAPONS FOR PROFIT. 

I always place a piece of old carpet, an old fertil- 
izer sack or something similar under the fowl; 
doubled or rolled up to extra thicknesses under the 
legs, thereby securing a close tit and a firm hold 
without unnecessary pressure upon the fowFs legs 
between hard objects. 

The only thing that does not yet suit me exactly 
about this table is the lever. Instead of making it 
heavy by iron weights, I shall hereafter make it light 
and springy, fasten the rear end to a wire on which it 
can slide to the right or left, according to size of 
bird, and hold it down in front by slipping a wire 
catch over the end. This will hold the bird more 
securely in its place, while the bending lever and 
springy wires will prevent undue pressure upon the 
bird's legs. 



(c)raig^^^;^©Hv^Hr- 



TOOLS AND OTHER REQUISITES. 

TOOLS BEST SUITED FOR THE BEGINNER. 



A S I have already said, let nobody imagine that 
"^ the operation can be successfully performed 
without the proper tools. They need not necessa- 
rily be expensive. Indeed, snch tools as I have 
found most serviceable can be bought for about 
$2.50 a set. I have ^tried the sets of several differ- 
ent makers, and most of them serve their purpose 
quite well, although none are perfect. At present I 
prefer a combination of several. A per- 
fect set should consist, first, of a knife 
or lance. In an emergency, an ordinary pocket knife, 
sharpened to a razor edge, might answer, but it 
has not the best shape for the work, and is a make- 
shift at best, A lance as shown in Fig. 3, and made 
of a piece of steel one-sixteenth of an inch thick. 



Fig. 3. The Knife or Lance. 

seven sixteenths of an inch wide and about six 
inches long, rounded off to a point on one side and 
end, is just the thing. Have an oil-stone handy and 



24 CAPOTES FOR PROFIT. 

keep the lance well sharpened. The knife as made 
by some manufacturers has a straight edge. I pre- 
fer to have it well rounded, as then you can make 
the incision with one dip, and yet without having to 
go very deep with the point as you have to do with 
the straight-edged knife. 

Next you need a spreader. A whale-bone spreader 

was formerly much used. We now have wire spring 

spreaders that are much simpler, and 

The Spreader. , • x x t 

much more convenient to use. In 
fact, I think the simpler the spreader is, the better. 
The one shown in Fig. 4 gives good satisfaction. 




Fig. 4. Spring Spreader. 



Still simpler and cheaper is the wire spreader shown 
in Fig. 5. There are various other styles of spreaders 




Fig. 5. Wire Spreader. 

that can be safely used, but those here illustrated 
are as serviceable as any, and have the advantage 
of simplicity. 
Next comes a pair of nippers, or forceps, some- 
thing like Fig. 6. It is used to hold a 
ipperB. 2ittle piece of sponge with which to mop 
up blood inside the capon, or to pick up any stray 



CAPONIZING I]MPLEME]S^TS. 25 

object that may have fallen on or among tlie intes- 



FiG. 6. Pair of Nippers. 



tines. Almost any ordinary small nippers will 
answer the purpose. 
The set should also contain a small, sharp steel 



Fig. 7. Steel, Hook. 

hook (Fig. 7) and a probe (Fig. 8). The former is 

used to tear open the thin, film-like 

Hook membrane which envelops the intestines; 

and Probe. i i . • i , 

the latter to push the intestines back 
when crowding over the testicle, or in the search for 
any object fallen among the intestines. 

The most important of all caponizing implements, 
however, is the canula, with which to catch and re- 
move the testicles. Spoon nippers or forceps are 



Fig. 8. Probe. 



often used in place of a canula, but they are not 
safe in the hands of a beginner, and I would not use 
them under any circumstances. To operate on 
small (two-pound) cockerels of breeds that have not 
the worm-like testicles of the Brahma, I prefer the 
canula with horse-hair (Fig. 9) as I find it in the set 
obtained from George Q. Dow, North Ep- 
ping, N. H. This is a brass tube about 
four inches long, a quarter of an inch wide at the 



26 CAPONS FOR PROFIT. 

wide end, and tapering to less than one- eighth of 
an inch. It is closed at the small end, with the ex- 
ception of two holes large enough to admit a horse- 



FiG. 9. Dow's Horse Hair Canula. 

hair or a small steel wire. Horse hair works well in 
ordinary cases, and when one breaks another is 
soon inserted, so that it forms a loop of proper size 
at the small end of the canula. Occasionally the 
testicle is of such a shape or in such a position that 
all the beginner's efforts to slip the hair over the 
testicle and between it and the artery remain futile. 
In that case I would try wire in place of the horse- 
hair. Wire, being stiff knd unyielding, is easily 
pushed over and around the organ, and the latter 
taken away, especially if you use the wire canula 
illustrated in Fig. 10. This T got in the set from 



Fig. 10. Filling's Wire Canula. 

Geo. P. Pilling & Son, Philadelphia, Pa. I think 
it is well enough to have a canula of this kind on 
hand, especially if you operate on Brahmas, etc. 
Still, the other canula will do in an emergency. 

Of other requisites you will need a sponge or piece 
of sponge, and a few cents' worth of carbolic acid. 
Also keep a few hairs out of a horse tail on hand. 
That is about all. 

Once more let me say, don't try to get along with 
clumsy imitations and substitutes. For good work, 
and satisfactory work, you need good tools. If you 



THE TOOLS NEEDED. 27 

wish to caponize at all — may the number of cockerels 
to be operated on be half a dozen or a thousand — the 
first thing to do is to get a complete set of tools. 
They are cheap enough, and they will last you a life 
time. 

If you once learn the operation, easy as it is, you 
will have calls from neighbors and others, and possi- 
bly you may find a little work at better wages than is 
paid for ordinary farm work. If you once learn the 
operation, I am sure you will not allow a worthless 
lot of roosters to infest your premises, bother your 
laying hens, and eat three times more than they will 
be worth in the end. 

If you do not feel able to invest the small amount 
for tools, don't undertake the job of caponizing. 
For the sake of humanity and decency, don't murder 
poor brutes with clumsy tools. Be merciful. When 
properly performed, and with the tools here de- 
scribed and illustrated, the operation involves no 
element of cruelty. The birds seem to suffer slightly 
when the incision is made, but for a moment only, 
and again when the testicle is twisted off, but at no 
other time, and they are ready to take their meal as 
soon as the job is done. 

I do not know that any set now offered for sale 
contains the exact combination of tools here de- 
scribed. Possibly manufacturers will make changes 
in their sets according to my suggestions, and put 
this, my favorite set, on sale before another season 
comes around. In the mean time I am now having 
some of " my sets " made, and shall be pleased to 
furnish them to my friends at a reasonable price. 



VI. 

THE OPERATION. 



WHEN AND HOW BEST TO PERFORM IT. 



HTHE three months for capon making are July, 
August and September, but the operation may 
be performed at any time when you have the right 
material for it. 

The first, and an absolutely necessary thing to 

do, is to catch the cockerels to be operated on, and 

shut them up in a convenient coop, so that they can 

easily be gotten hold of when wanted. Do this in 

the evening, and then leave them for 

Essential about 36 hours without food or water. 

Preparation. 

The intestines should be fairly empty 
in order to enable the operator to use the knife 
without fear of cutting into them, and to give a 
good chance for work and for seeing what one is 
about. The long fast will not hurt the chicks, but 
only make them terribly anxious for the next meal. 
On the morning of the second day, when the sun 



ESSENTIAL PEEPARATIONS. 29 

is two or three hours high, and the sky nearly or 
entirely cloudless, the operation may begin. The 
expert can manage to get along without much direct 
sunlight, but the light cannot be too good for the 
beginner. A clear day is absolutely necessary for a 
first trial, and if the day should be dark, the cock- 
erels may be given a r^ery small quantity of soft 
food, to carry them over to the next (supposedly 
clear) day. Artificial light, with refiectors, etc., as 
used by some experimenters, is not available for the 
ordinary farmer and beginner in caponizing, and 
not needed on an average fair day. 

Set the caponizing table in a convenient spot and 
in direct sunlight, or on a clear, hot day of midsum- 
mer perhaps, under the rather open branches of some 
solitary tree, the foliage of which permits the pas- 
sage of occasional rays of sun, giving a slightly sub- 
dued or modified but direct sunlight. 

In all these things, of course, the judgment of the 
operator should be consulted. 

Spread the tools out on the cleat-enclosed part of 
the table. On another table, stand, barrel or box, 
close by, have a dish with warm water seasoned 
with a few drops of carbolic acid, also a larger piece 
and half a dozen small pieces of sponge. The latter 
. may be of about the size of robins' eggs or hickory 
nuts. 

Now pick out the first victim. Let it be a rather 

lean bird, weighing not more than two pounds, nor 

much less. Twist or wind the twine 

®®*^^P^ *^® loop around the wings close to the body, 

and standing in front of the table, with 

the cleat-inclosed end to the right, fasten your vie- 



30 



CAPONS FOK PROFIT. 



tim on his left side upon the table, as shown in Fig. 
11. IS'ext to the hip, and where, in a lean bird, the 




Fig. 11. Bird Ready for Operation. 

ribs show quite plainly, you tind a spot which, be- 
cause usually covered by the wings, is almost bare. 
There may be a dozen or two of pin feathers. These 
should be pulled out. Take hold of them between 
thumb and index finger, not one by one, but as 
many as you can take, and deftly pull them out. 
Don't be nervous. Go at it as if you meant business. 
If you are quick and determined about it, the re- 
moval of these small feathers does not cause much 
inconvenience to the bird, for the latter never makes 
any fuss over it. The spot thus cleared need not be 
more than one and one half inches in diameter. 

At this stage of the proceedings I take the sponge 
out of the water, squeeze most of the water out of 
it, and then wipe it over the chicken's side. This is 
not absolutely necessary, but it moistens the feathers 
around the bare spot, and keeps them better out of 
the way. 

Now comes the incision. The right place to cut 
is between the last two ribs; that is, the two ribs 
next to the hip. In a lean chicken they are easily 
recognized, and often they are very prominent. 
They extend from the back-bone for an inch and a 



THE OPERATIOI^ 



31 




Fig. 12. Location of Ribs, 



half or two inches in a slight curve, then take a 
sudden turn upward toward the breast. Usually 
the "joints" in the two ribs appear plainly and 
prominently. Just look for the two slightly raised, 
whitish, almost knob like spots. Often the two 
ribs lie quite closely 
together, and perhaps 
the end of the muscle 
— a fiat layer of flesh 
— extends over them. 
An examination of 
Fig. 12 will give you 
a pretty clear idea 
where to look for the 
spot. Here the loca- 
tion of ribs is plainly shown. The dotted line be- 
tween the last two ribs is the right place for making 

the incision. 

JS'ow proceed by taking 

the knife in the right 

hand as shown in Fig. 13. 

Then with the left hand, 

reaching over the right, 

push the skin and muscle from the bared spot toward 

the hip and hold it there. Observe the two whitish 

little spots which form the joints of the last two 

ribs, and set the point of the knife right 

Making the between them, making an incision by a 

quick dip, at the same time slightly 

drawing the knife between the two ribs toward the 

back bone. The length of the incision should be 

about one inch. With the intestines nearly empty 

there is no danger of injury to them, even if the 




Fig. 13. Holding the Knife. 



32 CAPONS FOR PROFIT. 

point of the knife should dip half an inch deep 
through the ribs. Minor blood-vessels usually ex- 
tend in the skin across where the incision is to be 
made. If they are cut, a few drops of blood will be 
spilled: that is all. But in pushing skin and muscle 
toward the hip, and drawing it tightly, you may at 
the same time aim to get the blood-vessels somewhat 
out of the way of the knife. If this is done, the 
knife often does not draw a drop of blood. If the 
wound bleeds badly, the moistened sponge may be 
pressed upon it for an instant to absorb the blood. 
Making the incision, of course, will cause a momen- 
tary pain to the bird, but it is no more than any 
living thing has to endure a good many times in 
life, and will do so without complaining. 

After the incision is made, lay down the knife 

and take up the spreader, all the while holding the 

skin back toward the hip with the left hand. Press 

the spring of the spreader together 

.V. Y"*^^^ until the two free ends meet, and then 

the Spreader. 

insert them m the opening and let go. 
Also release the skin yet held with the left hand. 
The spreader will push the ribs apart, leaving an 
opening to the fowl's inside from one-half to three- 
quarters of an inch wide. If the cut was not large 
enough, you can remedy it by a slight touch of the 
knife to one or both ends of the incision. 

From now on in the proceedings you will need 
good light. Shift the table about, or turn it as re- 
quired, so that the best light will reach into the 
opening and upon your work. Looking down 
through the incision, you will notice a thin, translu- 
cent film or membrane, which covers the entire in- 



OPEITII^G THE FOWL. 33 

ternal organs. The little blood which may have 
dropped in from the outside wound and clotted on 
this membrane, is most easily removed by picking 
up, with the tweezers or forceps, a little piece of 
moistened sponge, introducing it into the opening, 
and pulling it out again with all the blood adhering 
to it. The membrane now appears clean 

Letting ^^^^ translucent. Then take up the 
in the Light. ^ 

steel-hook and carefully pick this mem- 
brane to pieces, always holding the sharp point of 
the hook upward, or in the direction of the back- 
bone, in order to avoid touching the organs that 
may be crowding against it from below. The tear 
through the membrane must be large enough to ex- 
pose, under good light, the internal organs to view. 
When bowels are nearly empty, you will plainly 
see, well toward the back-bone, the upper testicle, a 
yellowish body of about pea size (of course, larger 
in older cockerels), perhaps somewhat elongated, or 
in the Brahma, etc. , quite long, almost worm-like. 
Sometimes both testicles come in plain view, es- 
pecially if you push the intestines aside with the 
probe or with a similar tool. Sometimes, again, it 
happens that the intestines crowd upon the upper 
testicle and hide it from view. Then introduce the 
probe and push them aside, and the testicle will 
come in full view. Its light color (although often it 
is partially dark-colored, almost black) makes it 
plainly visible. 

You are now coming to the object of all this pro- 
ceeding; namely, the removal of the testicle. Take 
up the canula. The single horse hair should pre- 
viously have been adjusted to form a loop of about 



34 CAPONS FOR PROFIT. 

or nearly three- eighths of an inch in diameter. Slip 
this loop over the testicle, and between it and the 

big artery which maybe seen along-side 
^'T^ticfe.^^' of testicle. If at first you don't succeed, 

try again. It may require several 
trials, but don't lose patience. It will go all right at 
last. In especially bad cases you may take wire in 
place of the horse-hair; but the latter is usually to be 
preferred, and if the testicle is in normal condition, a 
little perseverance will surely lead to success. When 
you see that the loop has properly caught on, draw 
up on the loose ends of the horse hair, at the upper 
end of canula, so that the lo6p is all pulled in, 
and the testicle tightly drawn up to the end of 
canula. Hold the canula with the left hand, twist- 
ing it back and forth about half way around, at the 
same time pulling continuously and strongly on the 
ends of the horse-hair with the right hand, thus 
cutting and twisting the testicle off its fastenings. 
When you feel it give way, pull it up with the can- 
ula and horse-hair, and if some of the strings still 
adhere to it when you get it up through the open- 
ing, cut them off with the knife so that a little bit, 
say ^V of an inch, remains on the testicle. This is 
important. If you cut too close to the testicle, 
nature may try to thwart your purpose by letting a 
new growth of testicle take place, thus causing what 
is know as a " slip." 

The thing to be avoided is injury to the big artery. 
If the blood-vessel should form a kink, and the kink 
be drawn into the horse-hair loop, the artery will be 
torn, and the fowl will bleed to death in a few min- 
utes. With reasonable care, however, this does not 
often happen. 



SECOIS^D OPERATION. 35 

]^ow one side is done. All that remains to be 
done is to see that no feathers or other foreign sub- 
stance are left inside the opening; then take out the 
spreader, let the skin and muscle slip back over the 
incision through the ribs, unfasten the chick, and — 
turn him around on the other side for another oper- 
ation. 

I have described the job in all its minutest de- 
tails. To perform the operation does not require- 
one-tenth the time that it takes to tell it. In the- 
first attempt you may possibly spend a quarter of 
an hour or more. What does it matter? Take your 
time. The fowl, while not especially comfortable, 
is not actually suffering. He feels slight actual 
pain only during the moment when the incision is 
made, and perhaps during the removal of the testi- 
cle. After you have operated on two or three bird& 
the task becomes an easy one, and the operation 
will not take many minutes. The difficulty is only 
in the first attempt. Expert operators usually re- 
move both testicles from the one opening, the lower 
one first and afterwards the upper one. This is all 
right, but it is not safe for the novice to attempt it. 
I find it much easier, more convenient, much safer, 
and just as expeditious to open the fowl on both 
sides. 

The turning of the bird is quickly done. Lift up 
the lever, taking hold of the chick's legs, turn him 
over on his right side, as shown in fig. 14, and re- 
adjust the lever to hold his feet. Again shift the 
table [so the light will fall fully upon the front of 
the fowl, and into the opening to be made on the 
left side. The operator this time stands on the other 



36 CAPOI^^S FOR PROFIT. 

side of the table, next to the chick's back, as before. 
Then a few feathers are plucked out, the moist 
sponge wiped over the bared spot and the surround- 



FiG. 14. Bird Ready for Second Operation. 

ing plumage, the incision made and the whole oper- 
ation gone through with in exactly the same manner 
as was done on the other side. The fowl is placed 
in a rather more convenient place to be operated 
than when lying on its left side. A good deal of 
bleeding is sometimes going on after 
Eemoving ^^i^ testicle is removed. While a 

Second Testicle. 

little blood if left inside among the 
bowels, would probably do no harm, there may be 
more than the system can absorb in a natural way, 
and the clotted gore might harden and cause inflam- 
mation, blood-poisoning and death. At any rate it 
is advisable to remove this blood by the means 
already mentioned; namely, mopping up with little 
bits of moistened sponge. Sometimes you will have 
to introduce one bit after another, half a dozen or 
even a dozen times, letting the sponge soak up, then 
withdrawing it with the tweezers, and squeezing it 
out in warm water. At other times there may not 
be a drop of blood spilled. If that is the case, or 



MARKII^G THE CAPON. 37 

otherwise when the flow of blood ceases, see that 
no feather, bit of sponge or other foreign article is 
left inside; then withdraw the spreader and unloosen 
the bird. Next mark it in some way to show that 

it has undergone the operation. One 
Marking the ^f ^^^ easiest and quickest ways to do 

that is to clip off the end of one toe. 
All my capons have a stub inside toe on the left 
foot. The style of marking is a matter of individual 
choice. You can use one of the 25- cent chicken 
markers with which to punch a hole or two through 
the web between two toes; or you might use wire 
rings, or any other of the various devices. A stub 
toe, however, suits my perpose as well as anything. 
Put the fowls foot upon the table, hold a keen knife 
blade across end of toe to be amputated, with knife 
point down upon the table, and then with a quick 
move press down the handle of the knife, like a 
lever, and thus clip off the toe end. It seems to 
make no particular difference to the fowl, either at 
the time that it is done or afterwards. 

Of course, you will occasionally lose a bird. When 
in removing the testicle you rupture a big blood 
vessel, the bird will die under your hands, usually 
in less than ten minutes. In that case, chop his 
head off, if you so prefer, and have a fine spring- 
chicken dinner. Accidents of this kind, however, 
should not occur oftener than once in fifty opera- 
tions on ordinary fowls, even with the beginner. 
But if they do occur there is no loss, as the bird has 
its full v^alue for table use. A capon that comes out 
alive after the operation, is " out of the woods," 
and complete recovery is swift. 



VII. 
THE AFTER TREATMENT. 



HOW TO HASTEN THE HEALING PROCESS. 



TV/r Y elaborate description of the whole oper- 
ation of caponizing may lead many of my 
readers to imagine that the capon is in bad 
shape when he comes from the operating table. 
This a mistake. The testicles are not a vital part. 
Their removal is of little consequence so far as the 
bird's health and vitality are concerned; the only 
difference it makes is in regard to the sexual devel- 
opment of the bird. The thin membrane which 
envelops the intestines is not a vital part. The 
holes which we have torn into it are an injury which 
amounts to almost nothing. The only real injuries 
inflicted, therefore, are the two incisions, and these 
are merely flesh wounds of the simplest character, 
and by no means severe. The skin having slipped 
back in its natural position, covers the flesh wound 
between the ribs; the cut in the skin, and that in 
the flesh, on each side, cannot well be in more fav- 
orable shape for rapid healing. There is no need of 
sewing the edges of the wound together, or using 
any kind of salve, or plaster, or wash. Just trust 
in nature, the boss physician, and you will not be 
disappointed. 

At the beginning of the caponizing season, I put 

up what I call my "capon hospital." This is simply 

a space on one side of the barn containing, 

Hospital ^^^' ^^^^^ ^^ ^^^^ square feet of floor 
surface to each capon, and covered with a 



EELIEVINa WIND-PUFF. 39 

low roof as a protection from rain and sun, and 
tightly enclosed with wire netting. Inside is a coop 
in which the convalescent fowls spend the nights. 
A box in one corner is kept well supplied with soft 
food (bran and meal moisted with skim-milk), and 
a dish in the other corner contains the water, which 
should be frequently renewed. Some of our in- 
structors tell us to feed lightly at first; others advise 
giving all the food that the birds will eat. I usually 
have tried to keep the box supplied with food all 
the time, but it is a hard task, for the birds have a 
keen appetite and eat a great deal. Just as soon as 
a capon is put into the *' hospital,'- and once gets 
sight of the feed-box, he will forget all the trials 
which he has just experienced, and at once proceed 
to fill his crop. It is well to keep the birds confined, 
in close quarters for at least eight days after the 
operation. Many of them ' ' wind-puff ' ' badly, a 
lot of air sratherino* under the outside 

Wind-Puff. T . ^ • • 4.1. 4^ J 

skm and giving the capon a puired-up 
appearance and probably causing much incon- 
venience. I usually looked the confined birds over 
once a day, and gave speedy relief where needed by 
pricking the pufied-up skin with the point of a keen 
pen-knife. Part of the birds do not need this atten- 
tion; others wind-pufi right along for a week or so, 
and need frequent touches with the pen -knife. 
Usually you can tell by the appearance, and always 
by the feeling, whether there is wind-pufi and cause 
for treatment. In consequence of this confinement, 
of the treatment and of their voracious appetite, the 
capons become exceedingly tame and tractable. 
On some occasions I have given the capon his full 



40 CAPONS FOE PROFIT. 

liberty right after the operation, letting him run, 
feed and roost with the rest of the fowls. Neither 
this liberty, nor the dry (grain) feed, nor want of 
prompt attention, when wind-pnffed, seemed to re- 
tard his perfect convalesence. If I noted an es- 
pecially puffed-np appearance, I would perhaps 
catch the bird and give him relief with the knife. 
Still, I believe it is a good plan to keep the birds 
confined for from eight to ten days, giving soft 
food and proper attention otherwise. The straw, 
leaves or soft earth on the floor of the ''hospital" 
should, for the sake of cleanliness, be often renewed. 

When the period of convalescence (eight or ten 
days) are past, I give these capons their liberty. 
They will not wander off very far, but stay most of 
the time near where theyare accustomed to get their 
regular rations. At [night I drive them into the 
"capon house," a warm stall with low 

apon ouse. j^^^g^g^ regularly cleaned and disin- 
fected. Capons do not seem to be particular about 
their roosting place. I try to keep my hens and 
capons apart at night, hen house and capon house 
being only separated by the width of the barn. But 
when a capon happens to be nearer the hen roost at 
the time he wants to retire for the night, he forgets 
where his place is, and unhesitatingly takes lodg- 
ings with the hens. On the other hand one can 
safely crowd two or three times as many capons into 
a building as hens. Crowded hens will not lay 
well. Crowded capons eat and grow just as fast as 
they would otherwise. 



VIII. 

FEEDING FOR MARKET. 



HOW TO OBTAIN BEST RESULTS AT LEAST 

COST. 



'X'HE chief aim, from the time the bird is capon- 
ized to the time of sale or slaughter, should 
be to produce the heaviest possible weight, and for 
this reason a liberal supply of flesh-forming food 
should be given. During the summer and earlier 
fall months I feed mostly bran slightly mixed with 
corn meal and moistened with skim-milk or butter- 
milk, and whole wheat. Corn is not a proper food 
then; but some variation is provided 

Sammer Feeding, j? i • • • i j» 

^ for by giving an occasional mess of 
peas, buckwheat or oats. My fowls have free range, 
and find good pasture on the lawn and in a piece of 
rye and rape sown for this very purpose close to 
the barn. G-rasshoppers, bugs, worms, table-scraps, 
etc., all help to fill the fowls crops and to produce 
capon meat. A vessel in the yard is kept supplied 
with skim-milk almost all the time. 

All quick growing animals have good appetites, 
and young capons seem to be always hungry. Not- 
withstanding their tendency to laziness, they are 
good foragers. 

The problem of profitable feeding during the sum- 



42 CAPONS FOR PROFIT. 

mer and early fall, indeed during all mild and open 
weather, is comparatively an easy one to solve. 
Fowls on free range find so much to pick up in nice 
warm weather that small additional rations of grain 
will suffice to keep them in good growing condition. 
The natural advantages seem to me all in favor of 
that climate which allows fowls to be out on pasture 
the greatest number of days during the year; and if 
I were to make it my chief business to raise "capons 
for profit," I think I would try to locate in a country 
with mild, dry, open winters, and on dry sandy soil. 
With us at the north the problem of feeding capons 
grows in degree of complication and difficulty with 
the severity of the winter. When we aim for largest 
size in capons, as we should, we will have to keep 
them until they are about one year 
ng. ^-j^^ Usually there is little demand 
in our markets for capons until February or 
March. Before that time they would not bring 
much higher prices than ordinary fowls. After that 
time the prices range from 18 cents per pound up- 
wards. In short, if we wish to secure largest pos- 
sible size of fowl, and largest possible price per 
pound, we have to keep the capons all winter and 
perhaps far into the spring. Now anybody who 
has ever wintered fowls on purchased food, knows 
that they eat a great deal, and that the bills for grain, 
even when wheat is only 60 or 65 cents, and corn 50 
cents a bushel, soon run up to a large amount. 

The trouble is that many people think grain is the 
only, or even chief poultry food. This is an error. 
Exclusive grain diet is not only expensive, but also 
unnatural and unsafe. It may do well for a week. 



CHEAP FEEDING. 43 

when fowls are being fattened for slaughter, but if 
long continued, it will surely clog the system, make 
fowls over- fat, and in the end injure their general 
health and well-being. It should be understood 
that the tendency in capons, especially in cold and 
stormy weather when kept in enforced idleness, is 
to grow and lay on fat. Even without excessive 
feeding they are bound to get fat as butter. 

What is needed, in the first place, is a cheap, 

bulky material that will fill the fowls' crops, taking 

the place of the grass and leaves of 

^mnt^d?* summer. Then we want a little mod- 
erate amount of grain to add substance 
and warmth in place of the weed seeds and the like 
found scattered about in the open season, and finally, 
something in place of bugs and worms. 

The bulky material is best and most cheaply sup- 
plied in chopped vegetables and chopped clover hay. 
Every fall I store a lot of beets, carrots, turnips, 
kohlrabi, etc., in the cellar, and cabbages in the 
barn or out-doors, for the very purpose of utilizing 
these vegetables for winter poultry feed. Cabbages 
are for the most part simply thrown into the hen or 
capon houses as needed. Roots of all kinds, also 
small potatoes and apples, are chopped up in a plank 
box with a sharp spade, then (sometimes slightly 
salted) mixed with a little bran and fed in their raw 
state. In cold weather a mess of beets, turnips, 
carrots, pumpkins, squashes, small potatoes and 
peelings of all kinds cooked in a big kettle, and 
stirred up with bran to a thick, crumbly mass are 
greatly relished by all fowls as a warm breakfast. 
Chopped clover hay, and the chopped leaves of 



44 



CAPONS FOR PEOFIT. 



corn stalks, are scalded, sprinkled with bran, and 
then fed warm. In short, with materials of this 
kind we can keep the birds' crops well tilled at a 
very small cost. 

But one can make this food even much richer at 
little additional expense. Green bones, with more 
or less meat on them, are a waste product of butcher 
shops. The proprietors usually are glad if some- 
body comes to take it away. At any rate this rich- 
est and (when fed in reasonable limits) best of all 
poultry foods can be had at a very slight expense. 
It is a most excellent substitute for the bugs and 
worms of summer. It is a pi.ty so much of it is 
wasted. 

The question only arises how we can get the hard 
bones, and the tough gristle, and other fleshy mat- 




ter fine enough for fowls to eat. The often-advertised 
$5.00 bone mills will not grind green bones. Two 
ways are open for us to utilize these waste products. 
They can be softened by steaming under high pres- 



CUTTING BONES. 45 

sure. It might pay us to get a steam cooker suited 

for the purpose. On the whole, 

^*P^^"^* ui however, I believe that it is pre- 

Bones and Vegetables. ' ^ 

ferable to cut bones, gristle, 
flesh, etc., with one of the cutters now especially 
designed for that purpose. The accompanying 
illustration shows one of these machines. It does 
not grind, but will cut or shave any of the materials 
named in pieces fine enough for fowls to eat. It is 
manufactured by Webster & Hannum, Cazenovia, 
N. Y., and sells for $12. I think this is a good 
machine for people who keep a moderate number of 
fowls. Where many hundreds have to be fed, a 
power machine will be preferable. 

'Now and then a little grain — wheat, oats, buck- 
wheat, etc. , should be given, and the evening meal 
should always consist of whole grain, chiefly of corn 
in very cold weather. If plenty of the cheaper and 
more bulky food is given, four quarts of whole 
grain would be enough for one hundred fowls. 

That fresh water should at all times be kept 
within reach of the birds need hardly be expressly 
stated. They should have no chance to drink out 
of stagnant pools in the barn-yard. Another thing 
needful is a free and continuous supply of sharp 
grit. I do not think that there is anything superior 
to raw limestone broken into pieces of pea size or 
smaller, although ground oyster shells or sand con- 
taining coarser particles will answer. 

This grit is as necessary for satisfactory results 
as food. Without the required grit food cannot be 
properly digested, and a large part of it will be 
wasted. 



IX. 
THE CAPONS IN MARKET. 



HOW TO KILL, DRESS AND PACK THEM. 



nr HE first thing is to decide about the market. 
Have some understanding " with a good com- 
mission house in the city, or with a large hotel or 
retail dealer, and act on advice and suggestions 
received from your buyer or middleman. Keep the 
birds in confinement at least twenty-four hours be- 
fore killing, entirely withholding food and water. 
You want their crops to be entirely empty. 

You need a thin-bladed, sharp-pointed knife, the 
regular French killing knife which retails for 50 
cents, being, perhaps, preferable to all others. For 
killing and dressing select or arrange a cool, well- 
lighted shed. Fasten two pieces of strong twine to 
a beam overhead, say a foot apart, and let the lower 
ends, each of which has a "slipping 
mg apons. j^^^g^ n hang down to within three or 
four feet from the ground, or just at proper height 
to be most convenient for plucking the fowl. Fasten 
one of the capon's legs in each of the nooses, letting 
his legs hang downward. Then holding the knife 
in the right hand, take hold of the bird' s head with 
the left, and open his bill widely. If the light shines 



DRESSING THE BIRD. 47 

well into the throat, you may quite plainly see the 
big jugular vein on each side. Insert the point of 
the knife, and sever these blood vessels by a quick 
cut across. The blood will at once follow the knife, 
and flow freely in two big streams. Without further 
delay run the point of the knife through the 
roof of the mouth clear into the brain. The bird 
now is so near dead as to be without sense of 
feeling. Just at this time, also, the feathers come 
off quite easily, and no time should be lost. Sus- 
pend a two jjound weight attached to a hook from 
the bird's lower bill. Of course you are clad in old 
clothes, and ready for the muss. Take good hold 
of the bird, and strip off the feathers as quickly as 
possible. Leave on the feathers of the 

^""^B^rd! ^^^ ^^^^ ^^^ ^^^^ (hackle-feathers) all the 
tail feathers, with a few feathers up 
towards the back, and the long feathers on the hips 
close to tail, also the feathers on the legs half way 
up the "drumsticks." Be careful not to tear the 
skin. 

This peculiar style of dressing is a kind of trade- 
mark, and serves to distinguish the capon at once 
from any other fowl in market. The head, with 
its shrunken or non-developed comb and wattles, 
should always be left on the bird. Remove all 
traces of blood from his head and mouth by careful 
washing with cold water. 

A table should be on hand upon which to dress 
the bird, also a trough or box without ends and 
cover, just large enough to hold him in best position, 
back downward, for the removal of the intestines. 
Carefully cut around the vent, and pull out the 



48 CAPOI^S FOR PEOFIT. 

intestines. You will find a heavy layer of fat around 
the opening, and the intestines covered with it. As 
you pull out the intestines, push the fat back into 
the bird, and when you come to the end of the in- 
testines push your finger up into the body, along 
the intestines, and separate them from the gizzard, 
leaving everything else inside the bird. The layer 
of fat around the vent may be turned slightly out- 
ward and thus allowed to cool and harden. The 
bird will look all the better for it. Then hang him 
up in a cool place. When thoroughly cold he will 
be ready for boxing and marketing. 

New, clean boxes should be used for shipping 
capons. Nothing, in fact, must be neglected to 
make the packages as well as the capons look neat 
and attractive. Line the boxes with clean white 
paper. Printed paper should never be used. Pack 
the birds down in layers, backs up, as solidly as can 
be, yet without bruising. You will have no diffi- 
culty in finding a market for nice, large, fat, well- 
dressed and well-packed capons at acceptable and 
profitable prices. 



X. 

ODDS AND ENDS. 



TURKEYS AS INCUBATORS AND CAPONS AS 
BROODERS. 



T^HERE are a few people who make a success of 
hatching eggs and bringing up chicks by arti- 
ficial methods. Most of us, however, will find it 
easier and safer to stick to Mother Nature's good 
old ways. It will not be a new thing to many of 
my readers when I tell them that a turkey hen can 
be utilized as an incubator. She can be made to 
sit at any time of the year, and for an almost in- 
definite length of time. We want early chicks, but 
cannot always succeed in getting them, simply be- 
cause our hens do not get broody 
^^ncubator" early enough in the season. The 
turkey hen then comes as a deus ex 
machina. A writer in Country Gentleman gives 
the following directions how to manage her: " Select 
a turkey hen in her second year; arrange a nest, in 
which put a number of eggs, either china or ordinary 
eggs filled with plaster of Paris. Place the 
turkey upon the nest, and cover her with a bar- 
rel, preferably one made for sugar, as it is lined 
with blue paper. This excludes the light; darkness 



50 CAPONS FOE PEOFIT. 

is necessary. Leave the hen to her meditations for 
24 or 30 hours, or longer, after which time she will 
sit contentedly for two months, leaving the nest 
only for food and drink. Take away the artificial 
€ggs, and put those under you wish for chickens. 
When these are hatched, remove the young birds 
SLTid replace with fresh eggs." 

Now we will press the capon into service, making 

him serve as brooder. The writer already quoted, 

says in the same journal: '^ Choose a large, fine 

capon, not too young. Envelop his 

asSooder ^^^^ i^ your hand, and puff into his 
mouth and gills . smoke from a to- 
bacco pipe, the stronger the pipe the better. Shake 
the cock' s head after each blowing, repeating for 
five or six times until the bird seems unconscious; 
then place him on the young chickens and set the 
box in a dark corner for some six or eight hours, or 
until the next morning, when this hypnotized capon 
will carry and care for these young birds like a hen. 
In my hands this has proved eminently successful, 
and I commend the process to all." 



-^H^-Sr-^^f^i^^g m^Q) > j^ 



Piltryinen 




Green cut bones 

will make more eggs 

than any FOOD 

known. Fowls fed 

on CUT BONE will 

nearly double the 

egg yield in two 

weeks. We have 

the best, cheapest 

and most practical 

Bone Cutter yet pro- 
duced. Highest Award and Medal at WorW s 

Fair. Also first premium at New York State Fair, 

Interstate Fair, Western N. Y. Fair, Nebraska 

State Fair and scores of 
local fairs. Get our cir- 
culars, prices, &c., &c. 

Pare, Raw — 
Limestone Grit 

for fowls, is the best grit 
known. It contains lime 
and sharp corners to do 
the grinding. We fur- 
nish this for Si. 00 per 
100 lbs. Get a sample 
from us, which only costs 
two-cent stamp. 

Webster k Hinnm, 

Cazenovia, N. Y. 




A Perfect 
Caponizing >Set, 

F^RicE, = S2.50. 

Just such, a combination of tools as I wanted, 
and as I think the beginner needs, was not in the 
market, so I have had a lot made to order for my 
special purposes. Every tool in the set is made of 
the very best material, and all, to avoid expense, 
are put up in a plain box. The set contains 

I 1— Knife. I 

I 2— Spreader. f 

I 3— Probe. | 

I 4-CanuIa. | 

* « 

I 5— Nippers. | 

I 6-Wire. i 

5K5S?^5K5S?^^5^5S?^^^^^5^5^^^^^5^5S?5^^ 

This set will be sent post-paid to any address on 
receipt of $2.50. Remit by Postal or Express Money 
Order, or in Registered Letter to 

LA SALLE, N. Y. 



LEADING BOOKS 

BY T, GREINER. 

HOW TO MAKE THE ^^'^ ^^^^^"^ ^^^^ 

GARDEN PAY. '^^ gardening. Pro- 

fusel J illustrated. 

Printed in clear type. Handsomely bound in cloth. 272 
pages, 6x9 inches. Price, $2.00. 

T H E N E W Third revised and en- 

ONION CULTURE. ^^^^^^ edition. Copi- 

oiisly illustrated. It 

gives all the details of the new method by which 2,000 
bushels are easily grown on one acre, as 800 bushels in 
the old way. This system makes onion growing both at 
the North and South a certain success. Price, 50 cts. 

PRACTICAL Tells all about ma- 

FARM CHEMISTRY. i^^^re and manure ap- 

plication; how money 

can be saved in the purchase; and made in the apjjlication 
of fertilizers. Part I. — The raw materials of plant food. 
Part II. — The available sources of supply. Part IJI. — 
Principles of economic application, 163 pages. Elegant- 
ly bound in cloth. Price, $1.00. 

Liberal discount allowed to the trade. 
Remit price in Registered Letter, Express Money Order, Postal 
Note, or Post-office Money Order to 

T. GREINER, La Salle, N. Y. 






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